Beauty of the Mind
by Haagar212
Summary: Tarok dives into Sword Art Online expecting a game, but he gets more than he bargained for. Rather than diving, he belly flops into a world where his life literally hangs in the balance. Add onto that a Unique Skill that he received on Day 1, he doesn't know what to do. Follow along the story as we look at the darker side of SAO, and the affect one person can have on many others.
1. The Story Begins

**A/N: So, this is my first time actually posting a fanfic onto this site, or actually making any of my writing public for that matter. There are a few things that I would like to make explicitly clear.**

 **1: I am by no means a good writer, though I do try and make as few mistakes in grammar, punctuation, etc. as I possibly can. When it comes to the flow of idea, world building, and whatever else, I'm a novice. If anyone actually takes the time to read this and write a review, then please tell me where and how I can improve. That would be a great help. (Agent 94 and ThisIsTheGreatestUsername, I didn't actually think you would review this. Not gonna lie, I was excited when I saw both of your reviews as the first two on this story. Bit of a fanboy moment. And thanks for the advice. I have taken it into account and agree completely. Moving on...)**

 **2: This is a semi-self insertion fic. The main character is based off of me, and if I go any further with this OC's I will introduce will be based off of some of my real-life friends. There are a few other self insertions out there, but they seem to be pretty poorly written and I thought I could do better, as well as improve as a writer.**

 **3: This fic has runs parallel to canon, in terms of events and whatever else. But I've made several changes based off of suggestions made by two of the best reviewers on the site.**

 **4: One of the changes I've made is based off the self-insertion, and it isn't blatantly obvious in the story. Talon actually starts in America, for reasons that will be explained later. You might be asking, "How is he going to communicate with the other players if he can't speak Japanese?" There was a BS reason as to how this was going to happen, but that was quickly called out as the cop-out it was by Agent 94, and I agree with the review he left on how the language barrier makes more sense than an Ex Machina NerveGear auto-translation, and it will open up character development of i do it a different way.**

 **Without further ado, let's get on with this and see where it leads us. (Again)**

A young man with dark brown hair sat at his computer and watched what must have been the twentieth news story on the next big thing in gaming, the NerveGear, and more specifically, Sword Art Online, created by the genius Akihiko Kayaba. This new technology cut off the motor functions of the user in the real world in order to transport them into the virtual, where they controlled an avatar of their creation to clear the hundred floors of what was named Castle Aincraid.

"Nothing here I haven't already heard…" Talon said to himself, shutting down his computer and looking over at the helmet that was sitting by his bed, the partial cause of all of the fuss that was happening in the news worldwide, even though the main release of the technology was in Japan. This was what gamers had been waiting for for years, and it was understandable that this was something that would be well covered in the media. `

Talon glanced at his desk clock, reading 9:57 PM. Almost time for the launch. With one last check of his phone, he plugged in the NerveGear and lay down on his bed, donning the helmet. As soon as the clock hit 10:00 PM, he used the command phrase.

"Link, Start!"

As soon as the words left his lips, his eyes were met with a kaleidoscope of colors, and a check of his five senses to make sure they were correctly synced with the NerveGear.

Wouldn't want to get in the game and not be able to hear, would we? Talon thought to himself with an inward smirk. Quickly logging into his pre-created account, Talon was extremely grateful when he received a prompt asking him to select a language. Immediately, he pressed "English" on the floating pop-up.

"Thank you, Kayaba, for that option."

The amount of sliders, wheels, and options was daunting, but what was most disconcerting and incredible was the full size replica of himself across the empty white space from him. Talon walked towards it, and was only slightly surprised when the interface moved with him.

"Technology has really come far…" Talon said to himself, studying the model up close.

"Yep. I really am not photogenic."

And thus began the grueling process of customizing his avatar.

Not really. Talon really didn't care too much about what he looked like in game, and he only changed a few things about the model itself. He turned his hair from dark brown to black, and his eyes to a slightly darker grey. Of course, he couldn't help but change a few things about his body, getting rid of a bit of his belly fat and making his arms a bit more defined. He kept his six foot two frame and broad shoulders, and didn't change too much else. And he didn't even think about changing his gender. That was a little weird to him.

So, Talon pressed the "Create Avatar" button on the floating interface, and was asked to put in his preferred name.

Without a second thought, he typed in "Tarok", his gaming handle for years. Thankfully, the name wasn't taken, and he was teleported into the game in a flash of blue light.

Temporarily blinded from the flash, Tarok blinked rapidly, clearing his vision so he could look around at the world around him. What he saw just blew him away.

All around him there were romanesque buildings, absolutely breathtaking. The carved columns were topped with even more intricately carved archways, and through these arches there seemed to be exits out into the rest of the city, and from what he could see there were NPC shops set up along the walls, probably selling potions, weapons, and whatever else was needed on the first floor of Aincraid.

From what he had read online, Talon knew there was a menu he could access by swiping his right two fingers in the air in front of him. So, he attempted to recreate the action, and was able to open the menu on his second attempt. As soon as it opened, Tarok was greeted by a white menu, with your usual inventory, skills, friends, etc.

Before he was able to scroll through the interface in front of him any further, there was a flash of light and someone spawned behind him, and stumbled because of what he assumed was a change in height. Unfortunately, the new player ran straight into Tarok, knocking him forward and almost causing him to fall.

Tarok turned around angrily, ready to yell at the idiot who had run into him, but that anger quickly diminished as he saw who it was. Their avatar was an attractive girl, who looked incredibly flustered as she brushed her long brown hair out of her face.

"Go-Gomen'nasai!" She said, attempting to stand but still stumbling around. Taking pity on her, Tarok held out a hand to help her up, which she took a bit bashfully, unsteady on her feet.

Tarok gave her a small smile, knowing some very basic Japanese from Internet searches in preparation for this game, so he replied to her apology in stuttering Japanese;

"Monda-Mondainai."

I sound so white.

The girl in front of him tilted her head to the side in curiosity, and asked, "Are you an American?"

Tarok's smile grew a little more, happy to find someone else that spoke English.

"Yeah, I am."

As they looked at eachother, they both studied the face of the other. Her avatar was obviously of Asian descent, with long brown hair and emerald eyes that were a few inches lower than Tarok's, with the starter leather breastplate over a light red shirt, and what seemed to be light leather pants, and a sword on her left side.

Tarok himself had the same leather breastplate and pants, and his sword was on the same side of his body for an easier draw. The only real difference between the two was Tarok's green shirt to her red.

"Hi, I'm Eldra." She said as they finished examining each other .

"Tarok." He replied.

"I apologize about running into you, Tarok. It was a complete accident."

"It's all good, Eldra. If I may ask, where are you from?"

"Tokyo, you?

"Utah." Tarok replied.

The head tilt came back again. "Utah? Does that mean you're a… Um…" Eldra paused, trying to think of the word, snapping her fingers when she got it.

"Are you a Mormon?" She said triumphantly, remembering the term.

"Yep. I am. Why do you ask?" Tarok replied, his smile fading a bit as he didn't know what her feelings about his religion were. There were so many misconceptions about it, and he didn't really feel like trying to change someone's mind about something that they'd been told for a long time.

"That's cool! We live next to a nice couple who are also Mormons." She said, with a beaming smile that made Tarok relax. "How'd you get a copy of the game? I thought it was only released in Japan?"

"My dad works for Argus, at a branch in the U.S., and was able to get me a copy of the game and a NerveGear." Tarok replied, thinking about how lucky he was to get his hands on one of these games before anyone else. He'd rubbed it in his friends noses the day before, and as soon as he logged out he was texting all of them about how cool it felt to be in a game and actually move a body.

"Right. That makes sense…" Eldra said, pondering that for a moment.

Tarok smiled. He'd been prepared to go through the game as a solo player, off of the fact that the rest of the player base was Japanese, and communication would be very difficult, if not impossible. Now, that seemed very silly, seeing how widespread English was as a language. So, while he wouldn't be able to communicate with everyone, chances were that a good portion of the players logged into the game would speak at least a little bit of English.

"So, do you want to party up with me?" Eldra asked, surprising Tarok.

"Sure, but usually the guy asks the girl out." Tarok said with a smirk, not really thinking about what he was saying, and he looked at Eldra to see what her reaction to the joke would be.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to be oneto get flustered at such a question, and laughed it off with Tarok. She swiped open her own menu, moving through it with much more speed than Tarok did, and sent him a party invitation.

"Usually they do, but today is not the day." Eldra said, laughing once more.

A playful frown on his face, Tarok accepted the invitation and then moved through the menu to his skill list. There were supposed to be an unlimited number of skills, and looking at the list in front of him, Tarok could believe it. Thankfully, the developers knew how daunting it must look to see that amount of skills, and had a list of "starting skills" that people could choose from.

The only one that Tarok knew he needed was the 1-Handed-Sword skill, because at the moment he didn't know what else he wanted to use. Scrolling through one more time, he saw something that was a little different from the rest of the skills, but he didn't have time to look too closely before-

"Come on, Tarok! Let's go!" Eldra said, grabbing his arm and running through one of the arches.

"Alright, alright! Sheesh!" Tarok said, getting his feet under him to avoid being dragged, and started running along with her.

"You seem to have found your balance!" Tarok shouted as they ran, dodging through NPC's and players alike.

"Just had to get used to it!" She shouted back, leading him further away from the inner ring where they spawned.

No other talk happened as they continued to run, so Tarok took the chance to look at his surroundings. Players were in the street, talking about different things in front of one of the many NPC stalls that lined the streets. He couldn't imagine that they all would have different goods to buy. It was more likely that they were either regular NPC's with just scripted conversations, or the ones that were actually shops simply recycled the item lists for this town. But, with the amount of time Kayaba and his team had put into this, he could be completely wrong about that. He was so lost in thought that he almost returned the favor to Eldra of knocking her over. Thankfully, he saved himself the embarrassment by skidding to a stop a few feet behind her.

"It's great to be back..." She said to herself with that beautiful smile, taking in the field around her, alive with boars.

"Were you a beta tester, Eldra?" Tarok asked, surprised that he wasn't out of breath from that run.

"Yeah, I was. Was one of the only ones that farmed on the eighth floor, in fact." She said, with a little bit of pride in her voice.

"Wow. I can assume you were pretty good at the game then?" Tarok asked.

"Yeah, I was, and still am."

"Wait, if you were a tester, then why did you think it was a good idea to change your height?" Tarok asked with a smile, knowing that was the reason she had been so unsteady when she had first logged in.

Elders face flushed, and she smacked him on the arm.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time..." She said quietly, pouting.

Tarok laughed loudly, and patted her shoulder, which only caused her pout to deepen and his laugh to become louder.

"Come on, jerk. Let's get to farming..." She said, still pouting as she walked toward the field. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Tarok followed her.

The pair approached a mob named Frenzy Boar, and it looked at them dumbly with dark eyes, not realizing that these people were going to be the death of it.

"Alright, smartass. Let's see you kill this boar." Eldra said, smirking evilly.

"Yes ma'am." Tarok replied, mock saluting her and drawing his sword from his left hip. Not being a complete idiot, he approached the boar cautiously. There had to be a reason behind Eldra's smirk. As soon as he swung the sword for the first strike, he found it.

When the blade bit into the digital flesh of the boar, and left a red slash in its side, the health bar of the boar appeared above its head with an eighth of its health gone. At the same time it's dark eyes flashed to red as he drew aggro, and the boar flipped around to attack the young man who would dare to hurt it.

Unsurprised by the turn, Tarok stood firm with his sword held in front of him in his right hand, his left at his side. Pawing the ground, the boar charged, its red eyes flashing with killing intent. Tarok side-stepped the charge, dragging his blade across the boar's side as it passed him. This maneuver took a chunk out of the boar's health, equal to about a fourth of the remaining life.

Off to the side, Eldra looked on impressed. Without using sword skills, the boy in front of her had taken out almost half of the health of the mob. Reminiscing for a moment back onto her first attempt, she had died three times before she had gotten the hang of exactly how to fight with her body, and even longer before she had begged another beta tester into explaining how to activate sword skills.

Turning her attention back the the fight, Eldra watched as Tarok whittled away the boars health, little by little, using the same dodge-attack tactic that he had been using prior. As he went for the final blow against the Frenzy Boar, his sword glowed with a soft blue light, and Eldra's jaw dropped.

He had activated Horizontal without being taught how.

As the attack went through, and the Frenzy Boar burst into shimmering polygons, Tarok tilted his head to the side, mimicking the action that Eldra had used earlier in the day.

"What just happened right there, Eldra?" Tarok asked, looking at the rewards screen that had appeared after he had killed the boar.

"Was that a sword skill, like the one's that were described on the forums?"

"Yes, it was," Eldra replied. "And I am thoroughly impressed that you activated it without being taught how." She said, albeit reluctantly, a little annoyed at how easily he had taken down the boar.

"It just kinda, happened, y'know?" Tarok said, closing the rewards screen and looking at the sword in his hand. "But I guess if I impressed a beta tester by doing that, it's not a bad thing. Wanna go hunt some more?"

"Yes, let's." Eldra replied, drawing her own sword and heading out into the field with Tarok.

 **A/N: So, that's the end of the first chapter of this story (for the second time). The one that let's me know if this is worth continuing or not. If you've taken the time to read all the way here, could I ask for a moment more of your time to review this story and let me know how I can improve? To the two greatest reviewers I have ever seen, the interesting part is coming, the part that will set the story away from the rest. Probably next chapter. But please review again so I know what to improve on.**


	2. Revelations

**A/N: If you're still reading after the first chapter, Yay! Thanks for continuing to stroke my ego in my first attempt at a story. I appreciate the reviews left for me, and have taken them into account. There were two main concerns brought up.**

 **1: RNG stands for "Random Number Generator", or at least it does to me.**

 **2: Unique Skills were not given at random. I can agree to an extent. The wiki says they were to be unlocked after the 90th floor, with the exception of Holy Sword and Dual Blade. I offer two explanations. One, We don't know exactly if some of the skills were given out to certain players and if they had a prerequisite of "fastest reaction time" like Dual Blade. Two, it's a story that follows canon, but isn't. Therefore, I reserve the right to change things within the realm of possibility.**

 **Lastly, I do not own nor claim to own Sword Art Online, and make no monetary gains while writing the story.**

 **Please R/R and tell me what you think!**

"Come on Tarok! You're falling behind!" Eldra called out, laughing as she decimated another boar.

"So not fair." Tarok muttered under his breath in annoyance. The two friends had begun a competition, to see who could kill the most mobs within a half an hour. In the beginning, it had seemed like a good idea. But it was obvious that he hadn't thought it through all the way. The beta tester he had befriended was absolutely destroying him in kill count, and taking on two or three boars at a time, seemingly without even trying.

"Serves you right, Talon… This is what you get for being cocky." The muttering continued into something unintelligible, as he slashed furiously with his sword at the boar he was currently dealing with. His annoyance only grew when he saw that the boars health only dropped by about a fourth, indicating that he simply wasn't outputting enough damage with his unempowered strikes.

"That's time!" Eldra said, coming up behind him as he used Horizontal to end the fight. "What was your count?" She said, hands behind her back with a look so innocent on her face that anyone looking knew it was anything but.

"Nine…" Tarok said, knowing what was about to happen.

"Ha! I got fifteen. Pay up!" She said, laughing. Tarok sighed, opening the menu to begin the trade with Eldra, muttering something about overconfidence, and was about to send the gift of one hundred col, when suddenly they were both enveloped in blinding blue light that was incredibly disorienting.

When he could see again, Tarok found himself in a huge group of people all speaking Japanese. There were confused and angry voices all around him, but he couldn't understand a single thing that they were saying. He looked around frantically, looking for Eldra in the sea of faces as more blue lights appeared, bringing more players into what he realized was the starting plaza. The plaza looked… sinister in the setting sun. With the distressed players around him bathed in a dark red light, something felt off about the entire situation. Why were so many people freaking out? Surely it was just an opening day ceremony, right?

"Tarok!" He heard the familiar voice behind him, and he turned around gratefully to see Eldra in her red shirt moving through the crowd towards him.

"Eldra! What's going on?" Tarok said, getting a sinking feeling in his stomach as he saw the expression on her face. It was one of despair and confusion. In the relatively short time that Tarok had known her, she had never had any expression that could be considered anywhere close to negative, and suddenly Tarok knew something had to be very, very wrong.

"Have you tried to log out?" Eldra asked him searchingly, almost desperately.

"No, I haven't. What's wrong-" Tarok cut himself off as a red hexagon appeared in the sky with Japanese characters on it. The conversation around him stopped, as everyone looked up into the air at what he assumed was a warning message. The hexagons quickly multiplied in the air, two different sets of characters alternated as they moved across the sky, deepening the red that washed over the plaza into a color that resembled blood.

 _What in the hell is going on…_

As soon as that thought was had, a red goo dripped from the edges of the hexagon, coalescing into a large blob suspended from the edges of the hexagons that grew and grew until it started to take shape into something else. A humanoid figure appeared from the blob, slowly gaining details, until it became a floating figure covered in a red cloak. Upon closer inspection, Tarok noticed that there truly was nothing in the cloak, seeing the disconnected gloves. It was just held together by a black and red mist. His stomach dropped, his sixth sense letting him know that something was not right.

Suddenly, there was a loud voice that seemed to be emanating from the empty cloak, and the only thing that Tarok understood in the opening speech was Akihiko Kayaba.

 _Is this Kayaba? Is this just an opening gimmick?_ Somehow, Tarok didn't think that was even a possibility. Something definitely wasn't right.

Then, there was a weight on his side, and Tarok glanced over. Eldra had leaned closer to him, almost unconsciously, as she stared up at the figure with an expression of horror. By instinct Tarok put his arm around her, hugging her closer to his body in an attempt to comfort her. And the next statement out of Kayaba's mouth made him glad he did, because it caused Eldra to gasp and almost fall over, and Tarok found himself holding her up. Around him, there were gasps of horror and shouts of anger directed at the floating figure. The pressure of the emotions around him was almost physical, and it seemed like a better and better idea to get the hell out of here.

Holding Eldra to his side, he guided her through the crowd, towards the west gate. He slid through tiny gaps between people, gently nudging some of them out of the way. Any response they might have had at a normal time was null, their attentions drawn to the floating figure speaking Japanese. Eldra offered little resistance, her feet dragging alongside him as she continued to stare at the figure in the center of the Plaza.

Suddenly, everyone around him began to open their menus, including Eldra, which surprised him. She was supposedly in shock. Must've been because of something the figure had said. Tarok didn't follow suit, however, because of his attempts at guiding her through the crowd. So, when she materialized the mirror from her inventory, he was still moving. Then, light enveloped them once more, forcing Tarok into a panic, holding Eldra closer thinking that they were being teleported again. Once the light faded and Tarok realized they were in the same spot, Tarok realized that he was holding someone at least a foot shorter, in a place that… wasn't the most appropriate. He quickly moved his hand away, back down to her side where he felt much more comfortable. Thankfully, Eldra didn't seem to even notice in her current state, and Tarok took a quick look at his companion in her new form.

As he had noted earlier, Eldra stood about a foot lower than his six foot frame, and was noticeably slimmer than her previous avatar. Whereas the old Eldra was muscular, this one was almost dainty, and her olive skin tone darkened slightly. Her breasts were a bit on the small side, but it matched her curvy figure nicely. All of this analysis took place in the span of a few seconds, and quickly Tarok redirected his attention to himself to see if he had changed, and indeed he slight changes he had made to himself had been reverted, his small amount of belly fat back, and he assumed his hair had gone back to it's close cropped look. This combination of facts sent Tarok's stomach even further into the floor. Something was very, very wrong here.

The protective instincts that had been running his mind nudged him to keep moving towards the exit of the plaza as the figure floating in the center faded away, leaving behind final words that he didn't understand. He'd really need to figure out what was going on. But, the duo had reached the gate, and he decided that he had the space he needed to pick Eldra up in his arms and carry her, so that's what he did, placing one arm behind her knees and the other across her back, and lifting her in a bridal carry with a larger amount of effort than he expected.

"Shouldn't have to try so hard…" He muttered to himself, shifting her weight in his arms to try and get her in a more comfortable position.

If he had a hand to facepalm with, he would have, when he figured out the reason why as he staggered down the street. "Numbers. Not real life ability. Numbers." His strength skill was just barely above average for his level, and carrying the weight of an in game person was almost exceeding his limit to move. But it was faster than her shuffling feet, so Tarok kept strong and went towards one of the inn's closest to the plaza that he had noted on his mad rush through the city earlier in the day. Reaching the door, he set Eldra on her feet, and opened it, leading her into the building and starting the NPC interaction.

"I need a room, please." Tarok said tiredly.

"Gladly sir. That will be 15 Col. Right down there, room three." The innkeeper said cheerfully, pointing. Tarok couldn't help but be annoyed at the cheery disposition he had even if, logically, he knew it was an AI and didn't know any better. But logic wasn't at the front of his mind at the moment.

Pressing the button to finalize the transaction, he led Eldra towards the hallway where the rooms were, staggering from mental fatigue. It was almost three in the morning in the real world, and the consequences of staying up this lane paying a video game all about your brain were easily felt, especially with the concerns that Tarok had about the game.

Reaching the door to the room, Tarok opened it, and his heart quickly sank with despair. One bed. Other boys would have been eager to take the opportunity to sleep in the same bed with a beautiful young woman, but this wasn't the case with Tarok. While he did have a bit of a habit with swearing, he grew up in an LDS family, where respect for women was one of the most important values that was taught to him. Sighing, knowing what he had to do, he led Eldra to the bed and helped her lay down. She was still staring at nothing with her blank eyes, drilling holes in the ceiling

"Shock…" Tarok muttered to himself. What was going on? He looked back on their last interaction, about how she asked if he had tried to log out. Right before that man, Kayaba, appeared in the sky.

Tarok opened his menu with a swipe, and scrolled down to the bottom. He stared. According to the manual, it was supposed to be right there. But all he saw was an empty box. Absolutely nothing. His mind whirled.

"Was this what he was announcing? That we can't log out? If it was a bug, the square wouldn't have been as angry as it was, and she…" He looked over the top of his menu at Eldra, the sinking feeling he had increasing in intensity.

"I'll need to ask tomorrow… If she's up for it." Tarok said to himself, watching as her eyes slowly closed. There was nothing more to be done today, so he went and grabbed the chair by the desk, leaning it against the wall next to the bed and sitting down.

He rolled his shoulders, attempting to get comfortable on the wooden chair, and he almost closed his menu when he recalled seeing something odd earlier in the day. Going through his skill menu, he scanned each name until he found what had stood out before.

 _Dragon Rage: The user of this skill is capable of harnessing the anger of the dragon, and as such they can attack with the power of sword skills without any delays, scaling with player level and the amount of skill points they have in equipped weapon type._

 _Note: All other combat skills are deactivated while this skill is equipped._

 _Also causes special interaction with some parts of Aincraid._

 _Type: Unique_

 _Weapon Qualification: All_

 _Level: (Determined based on equipped weapon)/1000_

 _Current level: 8/1000_

If he hadn't been sitting down, Tarok would have fallen over at the description of the ability. The power this ability could give if used correctly was almost insane. But it was balanced in a way, requiring you to raise your weapon skill before you could unleash the full potential.

"Why did I… Why did I get this?" Tarok asked himself, pondering why exactly he had received this powerful ability, but almost immediately stopped worrying over it, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer any time soon. With that in mind, he leaned back against the wall, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading this far, and I'd like to say, I now know why some authors have a difficult time getting stories out there in a timely manner. The last section alone took me probably two weeks to get it the way I wanted it. That said, please let me know some things I can improve on in my writing.**

 **Agent 92, if you're still around and reading this, I did get your advice about focusing on something new and different to set this story apart from some others, I just kept getting stuck in the implementation of it, and the plan is, after I get a good way into this story, I'm going to start another one with a special interaction with guns. But, I'll need to plan that out. I'm just making sure you know that I took your advice into consideration, and please keep giving it. The same goes to you, ThisIsTheGreatestUsername. Thanks for the advice on fixing up some of my writing.**


	3. The Journey Begins

**A/N: Hi guys. Thanks for reading. Just one thing I want to address. I've seen several stories around, as well as within the "Murder in the Safe Zone" arc, that apparently, when someone is sleeping in SAO, they are dead to any disturbance outside of a preset alarm. I can't really agree with this, simply because your brain doesn't just shut off when you sleep, and something directly connected to your brain like the NervGear, I highly doubt that you would experience sensory deprivation as you are sleeping. Feel free to disagree and I'd like to see reasoning as to why.**

 **Onto the next point, in a review (still can't believe people are actually reading this) a guest pointed out two things. One, how the title and unique skill might have been connected more. I agree, they could have been, but the title is going to have more of an impact later in the story, and there is a connection, mainly with the second part of the skill, the special interactions with Aincraid that may or may not have a profound effect on other players.**

 **Second, the connection between Utah and Mormons. Utah was originally settled by Mormon Pioneers to escape religious persecution, and has grown into the capital of the LDS religion, with a large percentage of the population being of the LDS faith. Hope that clears things up.**

 **I own nothing, and make no money off of this.**

 **Be prepared for page breaks. Couldn't think of any other way to explain some of the stuff in this chapter without them, sorry.**

Tarok blinked once. Twice. The room around him felt very, very unfamiliar. And he wasn't in his own bed. His first thought was, what had happened the night before. His second thought was, _who was he holding in his arms?!_

The shock of that question erased the haze that existed after waking up, and it took all of his self control not to jerk his arms away and wake the sleeping Eldra. He was surprised that he had moved from the chair he could see next to the bed, and struggled to remember what chain of events had led to this situation.

 _After falling asleep on the chair for what felt like a short time, Tarok woke. Bleary eyed, he stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to figure out what had woken him. Then, he heard it. A small sob, stifled to the point where it was almost inaudible. He looked over at Eldra, lying on the bed, and saw her shoulders shake in what he perceived to be a sob. Standing from his chair, Tarok moved over to Eldra, seeing if she was awake, only to be greeted by tightly shut eyes. He attempted to shake her awake from her nightmare, to try and tell her it would all be okay, but she wouldn't awaken._

 _Tarok climbed onto the bed beside her, and continued to try and wake her. After several minutes of this, he decided it was a fruitless effort, but it made him feel sick to just leave her there, suffering. So, he did the only thing he could think of at the time. Lay down next to her, put his arm across her stomach, and try to be a physically calming presence. To his surprise, as soon as he did that, her shaking shoulders stopped, and she seemed to fall into a more peaceful slumber, much to his relief. Not willing to risk having a relapse if he moved, Tarok simply lay there and attempted to get some sleep._

Slowly, very slowly, Tarok sat up,lifting his arm, trying not to wake the sleeping woman beside him, for he knew that it would lead to a very uncomfortable situation. Succeeding in his attempt, he silently mulled over what his next course of action was going to be. It boiled down to two choices. Stay, and ask for an explanation of what was said the night before, or go downstairs and wait for her to come to her senses. Both avenues had drawbacks.

The former held the very real threat of her not realizing where she was, much like he had, and suddenly seeing a stranger in her room might lead to a violent outburst, especially since Tarok wasn't sure if she had actually seen his changed avatar, and he might just look like a creepy guy watching her sleep. The second was, if he did leave, she might slip into that same shocked state if she didn't have someone there to talk to, and was instead trapped inside of her own mind.

In the end, the decision was made for him, as was seen by the feminine form in the bed stretching out and yawning (cutely, some detached part of his brain pointed out as he froze in fear). She had her back turned to him, and he heard her make a confused sound as she looked at the unfamiliar wall. She turned her head one way, and then the other, twisting her body to see the area behind her, as well as the young man, frozen, staring.

Tarok's fears were realized when she yelled out, and then started saying something in Japanese while looking at him accusingly. He did the only thing he could think of. Hold up his hands in the surrender position, and speak to her calmly.

"Eldra, it's me, Tarok."

The English words were enough to give her pause, and he watched confusion turn to understanding, and then to horror, as she remembered where she was and why she was there. It was at this point that Tarok assumed that it was safe to move from his corner, and walked to the other side of the bed where she was standing.

"Hey, look at me." He said, gently but not without authority.

The Japanese girl looked over at him, much more responsive than she had been the day before.

"I'm here for you."

These simple words were enough to cause tears to flow from Eldra's eyes, as she broke down, and Tarok could not control his urge to hug her, to try and make her feel better. They stayed in this position for a long time, and when Eldra's body stopped shaking with sobs against him, Tarok broke the embrace, and looked at her.

"I need to know what he said yesterday." He asked in the same gentle, authoritative voice that he had used earlier. She nodded her head, understanding why her new friend needed her to repeat what had happened. Drawing a deep breath and collecting her thoughts, Eldra began to tell him what the madman had done to them.

Tarok looked at her, speechless, as she finished her account of what Kayabe had said the night before. He knew that something had gone horribly wrong, but someone turning a game that was meant to be enjoyed into a literal death trap was not something he had been prepared for.

"So, if our health points hit zero, we're gone... from this world and the real one…" Tarok muttered to himself, still trying to wrap his brain around what exactly was happening. Emotions were swirling around in his head, sadness, anger, confusion, hatred, so many different actions that he could take. The deciding factor in his response was the girl across from him, in her own emotional turmoil, and that lead him to not give any large response outwardly, for if he started to freak out, then she would be quick to follow.

"Well. That sucks."

The simple words the came out of Tarok's mouth were completely understating the problem, and the sincere way he said it made Eldra burst out into a fit of giggles the put a smile onto Tarok's face. He knew it wasn't funny, and he knew that it really wasn't a joking matter. But if it caused her to have a little bit of joy, then there really wasn't a harm in it.

The dark mood that had permeated the room was broken, and the two occupants looked at each other, both with half smiles on their faces after the joke.

"Yes, yes it does, you sarcastic jerk."

Tarok flashed her a smile and shrugged his shoulders playfully, tilting his head to the side. "Aw, you're going to make me blush if you keep handing out those compliments."

She giggled once more, and then suddenly became very serious.

"What are we going to do, Tarok?"

He became serious as well, looking at her with grey eyes like steel.

"I'm going to beat this game." He said with a heartfelt passion. "No man is going to have this much control over me, and I am going to prove that this game will not beat me."

Eldra stared straight back at her emerald orbs, and held his gaze for a few moments before dropping her eyes to the floor.

"I-I-..."

Tarok realized what she was trying to say, and put his hands on her shoulders, an understanding look on his face.

"I understand if you don't want to go risk your life out there, and I don't judge you for it." He said, continuing to look her in the eye. The expression on her face was one of gratitude and embarrassment, and she moved her eyes to the ground once more.

"What are a few good quests that I could take to help me out the most?" He asked, knowing that whatever advantage she could give him with her prior knowledge, he would be glad to take and use to the best of his ability.

"Well, if you were going to be focusing on your one handed sword, then I would say… The Secret Medicine of the Forest quest. It's in the next town, Horunka Village, and the quest reward is a sword that, if you get lucky upgrading it, should be able to get you all the way to the third floor without needing a new one." She paused, shifting her feet uncomfortably. "Tarok, I-"

"Don't worry about it, Eldra. Thanks for the information. Is it alright if I message you if I have any more questions?" Tarok cut her off, not wanting her to try and explain her decision to him. He understood the things she hadn't said, and didn't hold it against her.

She nodded her consent to his request, and he turned towards the door, reaching for the handle, and then turned his head so he could see her.

"If you need anything, message me, okay? I'm more than willing to help." Tarok said sincerely, and with that parting statement, walked out the door, the latch giving a firm _click_ of finality.

Walking down the hallway, Tarok took a deep breath, steeling his resolve to beat this game and the monster that had created it. He rolled his shoulders, strode across the main room to the front door while ignoring the cheerful greeting of the NPC innkeeper, settled the sword onto his back, and reached for his second handle of the morning. But a familiar call stopped his hand mid-motion.

"Tarok!" The voice yelled out, and he turned back towards the main room. "I'm coming with you."

"Are you su-"

"Yes. Let's get moving."

 **A/N: This chapter feels a little… Cringy. And the little bit of suspense I tried to put in there also seemed a little cliche, as we all knew that I wasn't going to break up the couple so early on. But I think it still works with the character building and backstory that I want to have. Please R/R and let me know what you think of the story!**


	4. Horunka Forest

**I own nothing**

"We're almost to the spawn area." Eldra said, leading him deeper and deeper into the forest. They were both around a comfortable level 3 after the past days farming and the traveling that was done on the way to Horunka, as well as the travel through the forest killing the trash mobs. They'd upgraded their gear from the starter gear as well, with mostly defensive stat increases. Now that losing all of your health had a permanent consequence, every point mattered, and logically, defensive stats were far more important than offensive when you were going into an area with higher level monsters.

Tarok followed along silently, keeping a close eye on Eldra as they moved through the rather dense forest. She hadn't been the same since the announcement, not that it was surprising. Being told that you were now in danger of dying after joining a game to have fun wasn't the best thing for your psyche. Tarok himself was having a difficult time with it as well, but he kept his problems to himself as to not exacerbate Eldra's.

Inside, Tarok was a mess. He put on a brave front, but he was worried. Worried about how his parents would feel, how his brothers would, and especially his little sister. She was only seven, and was the little princess of the family. Tarok would not hesitate to admit that he was wrapped around her finger, and he worried about what would happen if the only time she saw him again was when he was about to go six feet under. This inner turmoil was enough to make him want to vomit, but he had to keep up appearances. He had to be strong for the people around him, and fight to clear this game to see them again.

He needed to see his friends again, and his kinda-sorta-pseudo-crush-maybe-girlfriend. She was his best friends sister, which made things awkward, and-

"Alright, keep your guard up. We're here." Eldra's voice came from in front of him, knocking him out of the slippery slope that was his thought process. Immediately drawing his sword, he went back into hyper-awareness mode, looking around for the next threat. They were in a small clearing somewhere in the center of the woods. All around them was virtual green, and they couldn't see past four or five feet past the first tree at the edges of the clearing. The forest was surprisingly quiet, and that wasn't making him feel any better. _When forests are quiet, something is wrong._

"Should be around here…" Eldra said to herself in front of him, looking around for the mobs that just weren't there. "Where are they?" Tarok didn't have an answer. They hadn't passed any players on the way there, and there were no sounds of fighting, so it already being a cleared area was not likely. His eyes swept the clearing back and forth, and suddenly caught a flash of metal off to the side in patch of long grass. Curious, he moved carefully towards it, not willing to put anything past this game. What he saw surpassed his expectations. A sword planted in the ground with a buckler leaning up against it, and at the base of the shield, a small, white flower.

"Hey Eldra, come check this out." Tarok called, bringing her attention over to him. Eldra came and stood by him, looking down at the obvious grave site, and he watched as her face fell as she once again faced the reality of the world around her.

"What should we do?" She asked him, turning her head towards him. He just bowed his head down at the scene before him, eyes closed, lips moving with no sound coming out. Eldra stared over at him, wondering what exactly he was doing. She attempted to read his lips, leaning forward to try and get a better view from the front, and she only got a single word, _Amen,_ when his head came up and his eyes met hers directly, and in that moment she saw a wealth of emotion that she hadn't realized had been there. She saw sadness and worry, but also care. Love.

Silently, he reached down to take the seed, taking care not to disturb the equipment left on the ground. When he had straightened up, Tarok looked over at Eldra. "I'm not a fan of disturbing the dead, but we do need every advantage we can in this horror story. Leave the equipment, and we'll get you a flower here soon." The fun, sarcastic Tarok was missing as he said this, and in his place was someone different. But there wasn't time to think on this further, as they heard a sound coming from the forest behind them.

They both turned quickly to face the sound, to see a large flower monster, Little Nepent, acid dripping from it's red lips onto its white outer skin. It stood several feet taller than Tarok himself, and snarled at the two players that had dared enter it's spawn area. If it wasn't for the circumstances of the game itself, he might have laughed at the developer's choice of mob design, but at the moment it was nothing short of terrifying.

Tarok and Eldra looked at eachother for one moment more before they leapt into action, charging the towering plant beast. Had she not briefed him earlier, Tarok would have been able to figure out the weak point on his own, the thin stem of the plant that looked decently easy to cut through. He'd always been good at noticing weak points in other games he had played, and he hoped that this would be no exception.

Tarok, reaching the monster first, activated _Horizontal_ , a basic sword skill that drew the blade across his body, steel flashing out and biting into the vegetation, and he noticed it's health bar dropping drastically, proving that he was right.

"Switch!" He heard, and jumped backwards to open up an opportunity for Eldra to attack as the Little Nepents tentacles lashed out to try and counterattack, missing his face by a few inches as he went backwards through the air.

Switching was a concept that, in the real world, would have less effect on a fight than it did here. In the real world, someone was able to react to a new threat immediately. In game, there was a feature called _aggro_ that was in many other games as well. In its most basic form, aggro was a check on the proximity of a player as well as the amount of _hate_ that other players had built up by doing damage or using certain sword skills. This in turn determined what player the monster would target. This check took time, and the _switch_ mechanic took advantage of that time. By changing the proximity of a player, as well as controlling how much you attacked, you could make the monster re-check the hate table and cause it to switch targets. But by that time, it was either dead or another player had made it recheck its hate table, repeating the process.

Eldra's strike was enough to bring the monsters health down to zero, and it shattered into polygons. This sound was enough to cause two more roars to come from the surrounding forest as the mobs AI was attracted to the sound of their comrade being destroyed. Tarok's mind was now in fight or flight mode, and he wasn't much of a person for running away.

"Pick one. I'll take the other." Tarok said, not looking at Eldra, instead out towards where they heard the sound of movement through the forest.

"Got it."

Quickly, he manipulated his menu, equipping his _Dragon's Rage_ skill. They needed to DPS as much as possible for the highest chances of safety, and this skill would definitely help with that.

He heard Eldra rush off to the left, towards what he assumed was the other Little Nepent. Coming from directly ahead of him was the second one they had heard, and Tarok took the fight to it, running forward with his sword held to his side. As he moved ahead, he saw the Little Nepent's body bulge, and he was quick to dodge to the side, which he was glad he did. From the Nepents mouth spewed a green blob at the place where Tarok had been moments before, and it sizzled when it contacted the ground, leading Tarok to assume that it was acid and it would not be a good idea to get hit by it.

He reached his target, slashing forward, relishing the freedom of motion that his Unique Skill had given him. He swung his sword forehand at the stem, quickly reversing the stroke after the first had connected, and watched with satisfaction as the mobs health quickly reached the one quarter mark, turning red. Tarok's lapse in attention was quickly punished by an unseen vine coming from behind and slapping itself along his back. The contact caused Tarok to flinch, not necessarily from the pain, but at the fact that his own mind believed that it should hurt more than it did.

Recovering as quickly as possible, Tarok slashed one more time, disconnecting the head of the mob from the stem, causing the mob to once more disperse in a cloud of polygons. Behind him he heard the same sound as he assumed that the mob was taken out by Eldra, which he confirmed with quick glance. She stood resolutely with her sword at her side, watching the remains of the monster float slowly to the ground. He watched her closely while they had some room to breath, troubled over her mental state. She wasn't the same as she was the day before, which wasn't all that surprising, but the incredible shift between happy and conversational, to the depressed and stoic person in front of him wasn't healthy, and was usually a precursor to something very, very bad.

"What?" He heard, snapping out of his own thoughts once more. His face reddened slightly when he realized that he had been staring at her from across the clearing without saying anything, being a complete creeper. He moved his hand to the back of his head, and smiled while looking away, blushing.

"Just zoning out. Don't mind me."

"Zoning… out?" Eldra asked, confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I was getting lost in thought." Tarok responded.

"Why didn't you just say that?"

"Heh. Turn of phrase."

Eldra may have learned enough English to communicate easily, but the slang that was often used in the U.S. escaped her, because the meaning of the words and the actual definition of them were not the same. It was a little funny to Tarok, but also led him down another path mentally.

"Hey Eldra, do you think that you could teach me Japanese?" He asked, meeting her eyes again. She looked back at him, shock in her eye, and he was glad to see an emotion besides determination in her face.

"Um, I'm not that good of a teacher. Are you sure?" Silly question. They were going to be in this game for the foreseeable future, and not being able to speak the language of the majority of the playerbase would definitely be a hindrance when they moved forward, she realized.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's kinda necessary." Tarok said, gently poking fun at the question.

She smiled slightly at the joke, and nodded her head.

"I'll gladly teach you."

Tarok smiled back gratefully, and the two of them went back to farming for the last ovule.

 **So. There's that. I felt like adding in that little scene would help you guys realize exactly how this is affecting the playerbase, but I know for a fact that I didn't capture the emotions of the scene perfectly, if at all. Sadly, I'm still a pretty inexperienced writer, and being able to describe emotions in a third person perspective still eludes me. Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, especially if you see anything glaring.**

 **Also, the idea for the Hate Table came from the fic "Fairy Dance of Death". It's a good read, better than anything I put up. Thanks for reading all the way here!**


	5. The Meeting

**A/N: I'm just gonna keep writing. Whether this is shit or not, I like the idea and I'm rolling with it. Reviews are appreciated, though if you're going to flame at least tell me why I suck. Also, I've decided I may take a few liberties with this story, in terms of the timeline and characters, mostly Shino. She's my personal favorite character in the entire series, and I really, really want to write her, and hope that I can get her character right in this.**

 **And, as always, I own nothing.**

Tarok sat down and rolled his shoulders, letting out a sigh of relief as he leaned back against the stone step of the amphitheater, settling his sheathed Anneal Blade on his lap. It had been a long day, and he could tell it was only going to be longer. It was a little before 5:30 Aincraid time, and a boss meeting had been called in Tolbana, where he was currently. Tarok looked around at the players also at the meeting, and he wasn't too impressed. Several still seemed to have store bought armor and swords, and didn't seem too comfortable with them. Not the greatest thing to have at a boss fight, and it told quite a bit about that person's ability to fight in this game, considering they had been trapped in here for almost a month. In that time, Tarok had upgraded his own armor to a semi-rare set, the Thief's Armor, after a questline he found from a random NPC lead him all over the first floor, grinding out quests for the experience, and when he reached the end of the quest line that was the reward.

It was simple, really. A dark red shirt with a black cloak over the top of it, with a slightly higher armor value than the starting armor, with stat bonuses to his speed and stealth, which really helped with his fighting style that focused more on dodging and taking opening than it did tanking the damage.

It had been a long month, and with the first floor not being cleared, the general morale was low throughout the game, believing that they were truly stuck in the game for the rest of their lives. Others thought that, eventually, their government would be able to get all of the players out of the game completely, so most of them sat in the Town of Beginnings, living off of their starting money and any other income that they could find, but a very select few of them ever ventured out into the field for any reason.

That select few of the ten thousand that had joined the game in the beginning were the clearers, taking on the front lines of the game, desperate to get to the end, or even to show any sign of progress, for a myriad of reasons. If you asked, most would say that it was because they wanted to see their families again, and for Tarok, that was also the case, but wasn't the biggest reason. His biggest reason was his own pride. He couldn't let others put their lives on the line for him while he stood behind them, waiting safely for the game to be cleared. And he knew that if he did die, his family would know that he went down swinging.

Then… There was another group. A group that no one ever wanted to talk about, whether it be for religious reasons, or just general discomfort. Over a thousand people had jumped off the edge. Following the example of one man who claimed that the NerveGear didn't have the ability to fry their brains, they jumped. Some from hopelessness, others from the blind belief in that man. And in the end, the general consensus had been that they had died, simply because they were still trapped in here. If the others had made it out alive, and if there really was no danger to them, the NerveGear's would have been pulled off of their heads without any real problem, and the game would have ended by now. It was a very sad case of "drinking the Kool-aid", and the rest of the players preferred not to think about them at all.

Tarok was shaken from his thoughts by someone sitting heavily beside him, and heard her sigh herself, mirroring his own actions minutes earlier.

"Hey Eldra. Get what you needed?"

Beneath her hood, Tarok saw a slight movement that he assumed was a nod. Being a very attractive female player in this game had its… disadvantages. They had figured this out when they had returned from farming the Little Nepents, and as they walked through the town, there was no shortage of stares at her, and (Tarok believed) it was only due to his presence that they didn't try to approach her. He was a large white guy, and Asians, on average, were decently small. Not that size particularly mattered in a world based completely on numbers, but damn was it nice to be able to be intimidating. They remedied the situation immediately, going straight to a merchant and buying Eldra a cheap cloak with a hood, to make it less obvious that there was a "grill" among the gamers.

"Did I miss anything?" Eldra asked, looking down at the stage of the ampitheater.

"Nah. Even if you had, how much would I have been able to help?" Tarok said with a small smirk.

Eldra game a slight smile back, punching him in the shoulder, and he had to dismiss the harassment warning. The two had been quite working on his Japanese, and according to Eldra, he had been making a lot of progress. He didn't think so. Generally, he was bad at languages, and Japanese was a really, really difficult one, with strict rules on how you say some words and characters, otherwise you could end up saying the complete wrong thing. Though, there were some words that were generally recognized.

" _Baka_ , you're doing fine for how much time you've had to learn." She berated him.

"Only 'cause I have such a great teacher!" He replied, smiling.

"Well I-I-I…" Eldra blushed and looked away, while Tarok's smile grew wider. She never seemed to be able to take his compliments to her, and he had quickly taken advantage of the opportunity and took it upon himself to compliment her whenever he could.

"You know I hate it when you-" Hands clapped, and they both looked back down at the stage where a blue-haired man stood, and he quickly started to address the crowd while Tarok tried to keep up, putting his limited knowledge of the language to use. But he wasn't fluent, and had difficulties with some of the words spoken. He caught what he thought was his name, "Diabel", and something about a "knight" that cause many of the people in the amphitheatre to laugh at him, and Tarok just stared. "Can't wait 'til I actually understand the humor…" He muttered under his breath, causing Eldra to stifle a giggle at his downtrodden tone of voice.

The next words he caught were "Boss room", and that caused all of the laughter to die almost immediately. Diabel jumped into a lengthy explanation, and Tarok could barely understand any of it because of how fast it was, and he stopped trying to pick out key words for a moment. "Let me know if anything really important is said."

Eldra nodded and returned her own attention to the man in the middle of the theatre, and a short amount of time passed before there was another commotion, and he looked over at Eldra for guidance.

"Need to find a group to join."

Tarok nodded, and scanned the theatre around him for any groups that they might be able to join. His eyes landed on two figured about fifty feet to their right, who seemed to have made their own duo, and he nudged Eldra with his elbow, nodding his head at the group.

"Let's go see if they are ok with joining up." He said, and she nodded in agreement, joining him as he stood up and moved towards the two people, and he let her take the lead when they were close enough, seeing as she would be the one with the better Japanese.

"Hi, I'm Eldra. Do you guys have space in your party?" Tarok was able to understand that, mainly because she spoke slow enough.

"Yeah, we do. I'm Kirito."

 **A/N: Little short, but I wanted to get this part out of the way, as well as get something posted. I have a few things planned for their interactions, but we'll see how it goes. As always, please R/R.**


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